As if I had too much time, I've started one more fanblog/fansite. This time about The Phoenix Foundation.

So yeah, anything the Guys tweet about and more, what I find myself will be there: This Wobbly Bird and twitter: @ThisWobblyBird. At the moment I want to finish the pages on World of Taika, but there WILL be more, I assure you. Hopefully, after this tour, I'll have some material to open Fan page! I can't wait to see you at Borderline!

As you may know my trip is dependent on me scraping together enough money to pay for the flight. I haven't found an extra job yet but as it turns out I may be eligible for a bit of dole money while I wait for the historical interpretation season to start up again. I am cautiously optimistic!

Yay, glad to hear it kipples! Hope you get all the funds you need for the trip, biscuit!

TPF have been getting many rave reviews in the UK lately ahead of their European tour for their album 'Buffalo' which is out January 24th. Might as well post a few:

The Independent:

Ones to watch in 2011: A new year of cultural highsPop albums by Andy Gill

The Phoenix Foundation: Buffalo

There's a soothing, amniotic warmth about the music of New Zealand's psychedelic popsters The Phoenix Foundation, their enigmatic lyrics delivered by the frontman, Samuel Flynn Scott, with a laconic, offhand charm that recalls Damon Albarn. Cheerily downbeat dream-pop for dark times in need of a little light.

BBC Review"If you’re looking for a record to banish the winter, this could be it."

Andrzej Lukowski 2010-12-31

A peculiarity of the rise of the blogosphere as an agenda-setting force is that while there now exists a sprawling global network of hipsters that will gluttonously pounce on the demos of unsigned US chillwave artists the second they’re uploaded to wordpress, it is, conversely, perfectly possible for a genuinely successful band from a quieter quadrant of the world to possess almost no international profile.

Wellington, New Zealand’s The Phoenix Foundation have been together for over a decade, enjoying acclaim at home, but making painstaking progress globally. Released on NZ’s ultra-credible Flying Nun label, 2007’s Happy Ending kick-started interest overseas, but it’s taken a veritable age for TPF’s fourth album Buffalo (released domestically in April 2010) to score a UK release, finally arriving under the auspices Memphis Industries.

Still, this delay is no terrible thing, as TPF arrive very much matured into the finished article. The band in no way reinvents the wheel, but their dreamy, synth-heavy spin on Byrds/Beach Boys-style pop is immaculately crafted. Certainly it’s hard to believe a 19-year-old dweeb in his bedroom would be liable to come up with a pop song as perfectly overwhelming as Buffalo’s title-track, a sweet, dreamy jangle that’s abruptly hoiked into the stratosphere by an incandescent synth arpeggio of astonishing vitality. And such are the chops brought to bear on Orange & Mango that a truly dreadful chorus lyric (“It takes two to tango / Like an orange and a mango”) doesn’t really get in the way of it splendour, reminiscent of the poppier moments of Sufjan Stevens’ mighty Illinois.

Elsewhere, the band tends to plough a less-energetic furrow: it’s ultimately going to be down to personal taste if a record dominated by low-tempo, medium-hooky, warmly atmospheric songs is likely to appeal (fans of latter-day Super Furry Animals might easily have found their new favourite band). Whatever the case, those years out of the spotlight have served TPF well: every second of Buffalo is wrought and layered with artisan care, and if ever you were looking for a record to banish the winter, this could be it.

Buffalo is an alluring follow-up to 2009's Happy Ending, the UK breakthrough release from this appealing Kiwi combo.

At its best, it has a radiant, marvellous sound: the opener "Eventually" is like a languorous, South Seas version of Pink Floyd, with expansive, textured layers of sun-kissed psychedelia blending in a warm, relaxed manner – not so much Dark Side of the Moon as "Light Side of the Sun". "Flock of Hearts" has a Blur-like ingenuous pop charm, and the solicitous narrative of "Bitte Bitte" has something of early Dire Straits about it. But it's the title-track that best captures the group's sly, absurdist manner, the repetitive guitar figures developing a galloping euphoria akin to Arcade Fire, as leader Sam Flynn Scott sings, "I am the buffalo, through the sea floor I do roam."

Taking a route increasingly denied to British pop, these New Zealanders have been able to develop under the radar over a decade before delivering what feels like a major breakthrough. Buffalo doesn't reinvent the wheel. It's an album of dreamy, psychedelic pop: Byrdsy harmonies, Fleet Foxes-type haziness and a hushed transcendence reminiscent of the Stone Roses' gentler moments. However, songwriting this good doesn't come along often. Like the xx – whose sense of spaciousness they share – the Wellington six-piece make a little go a long way. Just two notes make up the title track's instantly memorable intro; the stunning Pot features little but harmonies and handclaps. Sam Flynn Scott's lyrics – tackling everything from a migrating bird to "children on pesticides" – gently cry out for more attention, but his suggestion of feeling "like a child's mind trapped in a man's body" best sums up the simultaneously sad and euphoric feel of an album that already seems destined to be among the best of 2011.

Yep. I can't wait to meet you too and thank you for the Wembley ticket personally. Though.... I'm a pessimistic person and I'm trying not to get too excited, because it's winter and the weather can destroy anyone's plans.

Aww Biscuit, I thought it was a given that you were coming My fingers might break for crossing them so hard for you.

Emira, I know exactly what you mean about being pessimistic. When the european tour was announced last year I remember thinking that something was bound to happen that would stop me going. Again, fingers crossed

DON'T FORGET TO PURCHASE THEIR NEW ALBUM 'BUFFALO' FROM MONDAY 24TH JANUARY AT ROUGH TRADE EAST AND COLLECT YOUR WRISTBAND AT THE SAME TIME, ANY REMAINING WRISTBANDS WILL BE GIVEN OUT 1 HOUR PRIOR TO THE STAGE TIME, FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVED BASIS.........ONE PER PERSON

Now signed to Memphis Industries in the UK, home to friends and fellow countrymen The Ruby Suns, The Phoenix Foundation are set to remain a secret no longer.

From intelligent and infectiously catchy pop/rock gems, to epic, psychedelic prog rock, The Phoenix Foundation's music is a glorious pop polyglot, combining sun bleached harmonies, chiming guitars, progressive synth scapes and subliminal rhythms to glorious effect. Slung between romance and absurdity, their music can move you to tears, make you laugh out loud, or whisk you away into another world, without ever losing its poise. And, already a hit down under, where it has spent five consecutive weeks in the top ten, Buffalo is the band's warmest most loveable recording yet.

kipples wrote:Emira, I know exactly what you mean about being pessimistic. When the european tour was announced last year I remember thinking that something was bound to happen that would stop me going. Again, fingers crossed

So here's my (long) account of TPF's instore gig at Rough Trade East record store! :

I arrived at Rough Trade quite early so I spent the time milling around the store, checking out their cool collection. I also saw various members of the band either sound-checking or milling around the store too.

First, I introduced myself to Sam cos as I was looking around the shelves, I noticed that at one point, he was right next to me with a guitar carrying out a sound-check. He said that he recognised me from Twitter. We spoke briefly and I told him I was looking forward to the gig tonight and that seeing them live tonight was a nice birthday treat.

I saw Luke walking around so I called his name and he looked at me with a kind of "are we meant to know each other?" look so I felt the need to clarify the situation by saying that I’m a fan of their music and that I'm looking forward to the gig. He eased up and said thanks, and he said he was nervous so he just likes to pace up and down to channel his nervous energy. I asked him how he was finding London so far, he said he likes being here and that it wasn’t as cold as he was expecting it to be. Despite it being summer in NZ, he said it was muggy and that he hates when it's hot and rainy. He also said that he enjoys a good pint whilst in London. I told him it was my birthday today and he asked me what my name was so I told him and at first he didn’t catch it so I said it again and spelt it out and then he was like, "Oh, okay I get it". Then we talked about TPF getting impressive reviews in the papers like The Guardian and The Independent and he said that he's really pleased with them but they can't get complacent and start thinking they'll be able to sell out Wembley and all that but it's good to hear lots of positive things about the band.

After a little more waiting around, the next thing I know, the lights went down. Sam said something along the lines of, "All you need is for the lights to go down and then it stops being a record store. We're now in a cave."

TPF then proceeded to play a set which mostly consisted of the first few songs of their album in their exact order which Luke pointed out. To fill in periods of silence when they were in between changing their guitars and stuff like that, they had some pretty funny stage banter (like a couple other kiwis we know ). Here are some examples:

-Sam talked about being sleep deprived after their 30 hour flight and described sleep deprivation as being "trippy". Luke agreed that it's very trippy and talked about listening to Dark Side of the Moon just on sleep deprivation.

-Luke cracked the joke, "Why did the chicken commit suicide? To get to the other side" which is apparently one of his really funny jokes according to Sam.

-After playing Flock of Hearts, Luke talked going a bit 'Brian May' on the guitar during the song and deduced that all of Brian May's power comes from his hair.

-Sam: *whilst taking off his jacket* First time I've felt hot whilst being here.Luke: You look hot.Sam: Thanks, bro. You mean hot as in sweaty?

The crowd was "polite" as I think Luke put it, responsive and seemed really engaged with the show.

After the gig, I went up to Luke to ask him to sign my copy of their Buffalo album so he did.Luke: It's Vesna, right?Me: Yeah.Luke: Sorry I didn’t get your name earlier. I just wanted to make sure I got it right.Aww, he seemed genuinely apologetic and I told him that he shouldn't be as I'm used to people not getting my name right on multiple occasions and he picked it up quite quickly. He started to write something and then he turned to me and asked whether I minded him writing "happy birthday" and I said "no, go ahead" so he wrote, "Happy Birthday Vesna!", signed it and then passed it on to Conrad to sign so I thanked them. Then I passed the CD on to Sam who signed it and said, "Oh, someone wrote happy birthday". I told him that I enjoyed their gig and that I was really looking forward to their gig at The Borderline as well and he said he was too and hoped it would be better. I don't know, he probably thought they were a bit rusty tonight, being sleep deprived and all, but I said that I thought they still sounded great. Then he helped me locate the other members of the band who were scattered around so they could also sign the CD. I passed on the CD to Will (who drew a funky illustration as you can see in the pic of the CD below) and then Tom to sign.

Afterwards, I spoke to Richie and asked him to sign my album. He asked how I found out about their music and I said mostly through Flight of the Conchords and that I watched Eagle vs Shark and heard the soundtrack which I really enjoyed so I decided to check out their other stuff. We talked about being in London and he said it was great and that he has a relative living quite nearby which is pretty cool and we also talked about Bristol since he has also visited there. Then I told him that I was also looking forward to seeing them at The Borderline with a few friends who are travelling in to London for the weekend. He asked whether we had tickets and I told him that we bought tickets quite early. We also talked about the rave reviews they've been getting in the press, said goodbye and that was it! What a fun evening! They honestly put on a very impressive mini gig and were all very friendly and chatty.

The Phoenix Foundation Set List at Rough Trade East 25/1/2011EventuallyBuffaloFlock of HeartsPotBitte BitteGolden ShipOrange & Mango

Here are a couple of videos I took:Flock of Hearts:

Pot:

Here are a few pics I took:

I'm really looking forward to seeing them perform a longer set at The Borderline next month and meeting up with some of you!